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How Many Demons Can Dance On the Head of a Sequester?

Our government is too big. The crisis of the moment, the so-called sequester, won't do anything to change that. Our nation needs a plan to reduce government spending dramatically, rapidly, and in accordance with our needs. Until then, however, the sequester is better than nothing, and far better than any proposal to change it.

In addition, the sequester is the law of the land. That means something, we were told. At any rate, failing to implement the sequester or equivalent cuts is now a spending increase. Those demonizing the sequester with scare tactics will attempt to blame it and fiscal conservatives for any negative economic news in the future. But they always do that. When you will be blamed either way, the right thing to do is to do the right thing.

The Deficit

Our budget deficit this year is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to be $850B. We need run a surplus of $500B per year for 33 years to pay off our debt. Along with that, we will have to pay the interest on what we've already borrowed, which will go up dramatically as interest rates increase.

To start paying down the debt, we need to cut $1.3 trillion in spending this year. The sequester doesn't really cut anything, but merely doesn't increase spending by as much.

On the other hand it's risky business attaching actual numbers to the sequester, because everyone seems to have their own. Part of the trouble is that we haven't had an actual budget in nearly four years.

The Senate, which has been under Democrat control since 2006, hasn't produced a budget since April 4, 2009.

How are they planning federal spending for the next ten years when they haven't even had a budget for the last four?

The $22 billion of reductions in planned increases to this year's spending will be swallowed up by some emergency this or contingency that. There will be some crisis used to justify increased outlays.

Despite having bragged since August, 2011 about the very cuts in the sequester and having used them to justify his fiscal cliff plans, the President fights tooth and nail to increase the budget by $1.3 trillion over ten years. Instead, we should be cutting it by that amount this year, as we would need to do to begin paying down our debt.

In demagoguing sequestration, the President argues that it would have disastrous economic effects. If a small decrease in the rate of increase in government spending will wreck the economy, then something is terribly wrong.

Jobs

During the Obama Depression, while America has suffered, DC has been a boom town. The bureaucrats and hangers on in DC have had their party. Now it's time for them to pay the band.

The sequester is a joke, and the whining over letting it go through shows the unserious nature of our elected officials, especially President Obama.

The Purpose of Government

Our government exists to defend the liberty of the people, not to provide jobs for DC bureaucrats. Do you want to justify government spending? Show how it defends freedom, or liberty, or the rights of the people.

We have too many people on Welfare, food stamps, and too many companies dependent on government spending. It's going to end sometime and not well. The sequester doesn't address that problem, but it should serve as a wakeup call for those who think the gravy train will keep rolling.

The question for our government is not when the spending spree will stop, but whether we stop it or it stops us.

FreedomWorks president Adam Brandon unleashed the following comment on those citing the threat of terrorism or “national security” as reasons to support the explosion in our national debt through the McConnell-Schumer budget deal:

The bill would blatantly disregard the Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011 that requires Congress to adhere to budget caps – This bill goes above and beyond, busting the caps by nearly $300 billion over two years, more than twice that of the past two, two-year deals combined

As Congress nears another deadline this Friday for funding the government, a lot is on the table in terms of what could be included in a deal to increase spending across the board. Whether Congress is forced into a partial government shutdown or it chooses to bunt the issue another few weeks or so with the fourth continuing resolution of this fiscal year, the spending issue will have to be addressed in the near future.

FreedomWorks Vice President of Legislative Affairs Jason Pye released the following statement at the conclusion of the vote in the House of Representatives on the FY 2018 budget resolution, which provides the path for a tax reform bill under reconciliation:

As passed by the House last month, the National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 2810, contains language that prohibits a new round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). An amendment offered by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) to strike this section of the bill failed by a vote of 175 to 248.